In the 1980's expandable block assemblies were utilized to provide a flexible solution for power distribution. These assemblies did not have the intelligence demanded by advance features in today's vehicles. They also have drawbacks in reliability, diagnostics capability and manufacturability.
Mounted fuse and relay power distribution modules were used to overcome the reliability and manufacturing issues of the expandable block assemblies, but are limited in their flexibility as they are designed around a given vehicle to provide specific functionality. The printed circuit board base power distribution modules offer some optional mounting features to support the expandable block assemblies but diagnostic and intelligence logic is not available.
As body control I/O requirements have evolved, electronic control units are utilized that incorporate microprocessor logic with control features for the more advanced vehicle systems. Expansion requirements are provided in the electronic modules by either (1) designing modules that support the maximum content and then scaling back the different versions to provide lower cost for various models or (2) adding separate modules to support the required added features. For solution (1) there may be single module that supports all of the features, but the size and overall cost is large and is inflexible to change. For solution (2) each additional module requires additional mounting brackets and additional fuse battery feeds, which are material cost adders, manufacturing cost adders and require additional design engineering effort. The electronic power distribution modules are a custom design and are inflexible as requirements change and carry the burden of requiring a new product development program for each module and vehicle model.
Another approach is to use printed circuit board mounted fuse and relay power distribution modules in an electronic power distribution module package. Although the intent is to marry the benefits of the printed circuit board technology along with the body controllers, the result is still a custom design for any given electrical system or architecture, which is costly to change and difficult to adapt to the fast changing requirements of the electronics industry.
What is needed in the art is a flexible system that utilizes a standard distribution system.